Clay: a pharmacy at your fingertips

Welcome to the third instalment of the Naturopathy section of the Unika Blog.

Let me introduce myself to anyone who hasn’t met me. My name’s Sara Maiani, and I’m a specialist in Natural Medicine, Clinical Phytotherapy and Naturopathy. I am very excited about this project, because I’m convinced that spreading awareness of naturopathy will lead to a real revolution in the world of animal welfare. Those who start to explore this ancient philosophy and practices are embarking on a journey into totally new worlds, very different from conventional approaches. I’m sure that exploring this field with proper care and discipline will help enrich the relationship between ourselves and our animals, because we’ll be able to understand them better, and even see them in new ways. 

Today, we’re going to be talking about clay.The use of this substance as a remedy goes back to very ancient times: indeed, we know that the Egyptians and Romans used clay for medicinal purposes. And clay still has a reputation as a useful cure-all. I personally love this remedy, because it is effective, easy to use and brings quick results. Let’s examine the many different aspects of clay.

What clay contains

There’s not just one type of clay. Clay varies according to its place of origin, with chemical characteristics that are typical of that particular place. So, the chemical composition of clay from different places will also vary. The compounds found in clays are usually in the form of oxides. In general, clays contain: silica, allumina, titanium dioxide, iron sequioxide, calcium oxide, magnesium, potassium and sodium. They also contain very small traces of: iron, copper, mercury, gold, silver, tin, lead, zinc, chromium, cobalt, selenium, sulphur and chlorine.

What are the effects of clay?

I would like to introduce you to the benefits of clay by referencing Sebastian Kneipp, the father of hydrotherapy: “My growth in experience has allowed me to extend my knowledge of reactions to clay, and I have discovered that for many disorders there is no medicine that works as effectively and easily as clay. It heals inflammation, attracts sick and putrid matter to itself, heals wounds and ulcers and is an excellent medicament in cases of poisoning”.

Father Kneipp’s writings help us understand the power of clay. Indeed, clay is useful for the following:

1. To counteract inflammation
2. To remove “sick and putrid matter” from the body: i.e. what we would now call toxins, waste products or exudates from tissues
3. To help heal wounds
4. To counteract ulceration
5. Its absorbent capacity also makes it useful in cases of poisoning

How can we use clay with horses?

How can we use clay to promote the well-being of our horses? Clay is well known in the equestrian world. It’s most commonly used in the form of poultices, to reduce swelling in a horse’s joints after vigorous exercise. The clay is usually bought as a ready-made, ready-to-use product that is applied to a horse’s joints, which are then wrapped in wet newspaper and bandages. Unika offers a ready-to-use product called Uniklay, which also contains menthol and aloe. The wet newspaper helps to keep the clay damp, while the external bandages compress the poultices, encouraging circulation and helping to prevent venous stasis. The bandages also stop the horse from removing the poultices, and prevent these from being dirtied by any of the typical contents of a stall (faeces, urine, shavings or straw).

The clay on the horse’s joints acts through a process of osmosis, absorbing and extracting toxins and exudates from the tissues. The poultice also helps to cool the area where it is applied, and acts as a localised anti-inflammatory, helping to ease the horse’s joint pain.

In which situations can we use clay?

Clay can be used to treat many conditions in horses:

• Arthritis
• Arthrosis
• Abscesses
• Cysts
• Contusions
• Erythematous dermatitis
• Osteo-articular pain
• Oedemas
• Wounds involving splinters or foreign bodies such as stingers. In these instances, first clean the skin, then sprinkle clay onto the site and remove it after 2 hours, repeating these applications until the clay draws out the foreign object

Clay as a form of first aid

However, there may be other ways to use clay. You should always keep a stock of clay in your stable, as it can be a very useful “first aid” remedy to help horses in times of difficulty. Indeed, clay should be applied promptly in the event of:

• injuries
• bruises
• insect bites such as those from wasps or horseflies

Alternatively, you can use an Arnica-based gel, also an ancient remedy and highly effective in cases of injury (for more information about this plant remedy, read the article on Arnica in the Unika Blog).

In cases of swollen joints and overheated limbs, clay should always be applied promptly to the affected area. You should first contact your vet and provide a detailed description of the situation, and then apply clay to the affected area while waiting for the vet to arrive. In these instances, the clay should be applied without letting it dry out. This will allow you to monitor the state of the inflamed limb without the need to rub off the clay with brushes.

What you need to prepare an emergency poultice:

• Yellow paper (such as yellow butcher paper)
• Rolls of gauze (cotton gauze fabric can also be bought by the metre in some haberdasheries)
• Ready-to-use clay

 Here’s how to prepare the emergency poultice:

1. Prepare a sheet of yellow paper to cover the area of treatment, but with a 5-cm overlap on each side
2. Spread a layer of clay about half a centimetre thick onto a piece of gauze, which should be slightly smaller than the sheet of yellow paper
3. Place the gauze on the yellow paper, keeping the clay upwards
4. Pick up the sheet of yellow paper, with the gauze and clay on top, and apply it with the clay side against the horse’s skin, then hold the whole pack in place with a bandage
5. Leave the clay on for a couple of hours, and then reapply the poultice following the same procedure

But what about the riders?

Is clay only useful for horses? Of course not! The same procedure I described above and which is depicted in the illustration, can also be used on you, in the same cases I outlined in the section: “In which situations can we use clay?“. Clay has many different applications, and can generally be used in the same ways I outlined above. In humans, it can also be used for:

• Arthritis
• Arthrosis
• Abscesses
• Contusions
• Contact dermatitis
• Seborrheic dermatitis
• Dysmenorrhoea
• Osteo-articular pain
• Distortions
• Oedemas
• Erythemes
• Wounds containing splinters or small foreign bodies
• Phlebitis
• Herpes
• Lumbago
• Breast mastitis
• Urticaria
• Neuralgia
• Insect bites
• Sunburn
• Burns
• Warts

We are now at the end of my blog on clay. I hope that this article has helped you understand the myriad uses and many and varied powers of this amazing remedy.

Till the next time.